Promise
by Neptunesdemon
Summary: "I swore to her that she would never suffer as I did." He stated, his face frowning in determination. "I plan to keep my word no matter what, but I need your help to do it." Mpreg, angst, dark-ish.


**Author: C-Chan2 aka Neptunesdemon**

**Archive: None yet**

**Category: Mpreg, hurt/comfort, drama**

**Pairings: None**

**Rating: T**

**Spoilers: None **

**Warnings: Yaoi, OOC, character death.**

**Author's Note: I honestly have no idea where this came from, and yes it's quite a dark piece. I do hope, however, that you enjoy it.**

xoxoxox

The screaming echoed off of the cave walls, reverberating faster and louder as the minutes passed. The screaming, his screaming, had been going on for hours now. He was not sure how else to express the pain tearing through his middle, straining against his engorged stomach, between his legs bleeding as the only opening he had was forced open to a width that should not have been possible. Tears were streaming down his face, mingling with the rivulets of sweat that poured out from his flushed skin. His claws tore at the ground, gouging small rifts into the stone. Another contraction tore through him, and he was screaming again, a heavy set of suffering sobs trailing after it. He fell back then, no longer able to sit up, hands grabbing at his stomach and wanting to tear into the skin and muscle to remove the offending creature that was plaguing him with all this suffering.

Amber-colored eyes, red and puffy, misted with the tears that just kept coming, could do nothing more but stare past the stone to the heavens. He was begging in his mind, hoping that whatever gods listened to the like of half-breeds could hear him. He wanted it to end, wanted the pain to subside and wanted to stop screaming.

His voice stopped at the unmistakable feel of something tearing, and he released a strangled sob, body tensing as suddenly he could feel it descending. The short burst of sound, riddled with pain, anger and despair rolled into one, passed his lips and finally he was pushing it out and he collapsed. He lay there, both gulping for air and giving silent sobs of relief. And when the cave fell silent from his noises, it was echoing again with a different cry.

Inuyasha's ears twitched at the sound and he was slowly moving, awkwardly shifting until he was lying on his right side and looking down at the mass of flesh and limbs that he had just spent the better part of a day giving birth to. His eyes watered anew as he took in the pink face, the tiny fisted hands and small kicking feet. Silver curls covered the infant's head and peeking through were soft, fuzzy ears twitching this way and that, as if searching for a confirmation that it had not been brought into this cold world alone.

He gave a mixture of a laugh and a sob, and the infant's head turned towards him, the little lungs providing air for the shrieking cry. His left arm reached out, and he was gently and cautiously running his fingers over one chubby cheek, smiling as the pup responded, quieting to little hiccups and the occasional whine, as the pup's head turned to search, mouth open and waiting to be fed.

Gently he pulled the baby closer and situating the two of them into a comfortable position, he began to nurse. It was an odd feeling, but not a bad one. He lay there and watched for quite some time, enjoying the soft sound of the baby suckling before he realized he had no idea if it was a boy or girl. Carefully, he shifted, and moved one of the baby's legs to check in between and he smiled. A baby girl. His eyes looked back to her face, smiling down at her as she fed. It had been a long pregnancy and the birth had been one excruciating pain after another, but as he looked down at his daughter, he knew that it was worth it.

He was grateful for her. She was all he had, his only memory to a time when he had never been alone, always surrounded by friends. Years ago, when their goal had been reached, Kagome had returned home, and Inuyasha had remained here. Sango and Miroku had gone off together, to start a family and he had been alone again. Shippo had found an aunt and uncle, who were relieved to find him.

He had stayed with Kaede and Rin, having been left with the old miko by Sesshomaru. Time had passed all too quickly it seemed. Rin had grown older and had married, and Kaede passed away. With Rin raising a family on her own, Sesshomaru's scarce visits had stopped all together, and Inuyasha was back to being alone once again.

That's when he had found himself traveling the countryside as he had done before Kikyo. Sleeping where he could at night and hunting to survive and hiding during his human nights from renegade demons.

And then it had hit. A heat so intense he could not distract himself from it. It had always been easy when he had Kikyo, and then he was stuck to an enchanted tree. It was so easy to forget, when the danger of Naraku was there, but now he had nothing. His body could not be ignored. His body was ready for a mate and was preparing for a child. A child _he_ would carry. It wasn't uncommon for males to carry, demon men were known to survive extinction from such a feat.

He had tried to hide, but he had been found. A marauding group of demons had stumbled into his hide-away cave. They had found him sweaty and pining for relief on the cave floor and he had been trapped. The demons that discovered him were not nice. They were merciless and wicked, and they used him. Took turns with him, ignored his pleas and eventually muffled his begging with a gag of his own clothes.

They had broken him, left him bleeding and hating himself, but he picked himself up again. He had survived worse. . . much worse. Four weeks later, he knew he was pregnant and he could do nothing but hate himself. For nine months he endured morning sickness, fatigue, swelling feet, mood swings; all on his own. And then, as he settled in for the night, he had gone into labor.

That's when he found the cave and that's when he was in pain, but here she was. And though such drastic and disheartening events had led to her conception, Inuyasha felt nothing but joy as he stared at her.

He sat feeding her until she was full, and then burped and wrapped her up in his hitoe so that she was warm. As the baby was settled into the soft sand of the cave floor, Inuyasha groaned in pain. He was still bleeding. He had ripped he was sure and being weak from the labor, he was barely healing. He looked between his legs and his eyes widened at the large pool of blood, large clots and after birth mixed in with the dirt.

It wasn't a good sign, but he didn't know what else to do. So he started to try and clean up, burying the mess and wiping off blood with his hakama that he had discarded before the worst of his contractions had begun. The baby fussed and he looked at her for some time before he was snuggling up next to her. The new sudden feeling of dread . . . he didn't know if it accounted to the fact that he was still bleeding or that he could sense the last person on earth that he wanted to encounter nearby.

xoxoxox

The yawning mouth of the cave stood before him, and he was certain that Inuyasha resided inside. He had heard rumor of a pregnant hanyou prowling about the outskirts of his lands, but he thought nothing of it. The whelp would not have been so stupid, so careless as to have become with child. Not so young and not without the Demon Lord's consent. Hated half-brother or not, Inuyasha was still under his jurisdiction.

Inu law dictated that Inuyasha was his responsibility and the hanyou was not immune to consequences if rumors were true. He smelled the wading scent of pregnancy as he stepped forward, his jaw tensing in anger as he entered the cave, but it slipped away at the unmistakable scent of blood.

Deeper he went until the passageway opened into a large cavern, his eyes adjusted to the dark and there he saw him. Lying with his arm curled about a bundle, Inuyasha seemed daunt and pale. His silver tresses were dull and his eyes, which slowly dragged open to look at him, were not as bright as they once were. The hanyou seemed listless and with Sesshomaru's appearance, he had no other reaction but to softly scoff, before his head was lowering again, as if it were too heavy to hold up for long.

The bundle, the infant, began to fuss and Inuyasha was wincing as he shifted, sitting up to lean back onto the cave wall for support. Then he was feeding the child, Sesshomaru ignored, until the silence of the cave was broken by a soft, bitter voice.

"You finally come to rub it in?" The question was followed by another scoff, as Inuyasha leaned his head back onto the wall as well, golden eyes staring back at the silent demon. "I knew you'd come eventually. I just didn't think you'd take so long."

Sesshomaru remained quiet and let his eyes study Inuyasha, who had started trembling, the chilled cave air seeming to affect him badly. The strong scent of blood had Sesshomaru looking to the ground where his half-brother sat and if he had any reaction to the blood staining the ground, he did not show it on his face. The labor must have been very hard to endure and had obviously injured Inuyasha in such a way that he had not started to heal yet. Where was his mate?

"It would be remiss to assume that you are without a mate, but as a hanyou, you have proven that you are prone to reckless behavior."

The laugh startled him a bit, because it was such a bitter sound that rang across the cavern.

"You never fail to make me feel like shit, huh?" The hanyou was asking, and Sesshomaru reverted to silently observing again. "Your pride is more important to you than the fact that your little brother, your own flesh and blood, just went through labor. That I just fucking withstood a full night of contractions and pain and _suffering_ to give birth to _your family_ doesn't mean a damn thing to you! All you fucking care about is that I don't have a mate with me. As if you would fucking approve of anyone willing to stoop so low as to mate with a hanyou."

Inuyasha paused to move the child so that it could latch onto his other breast, distracted from his anger momentarily as he fussed over the infant. But he was looking up again soon after, his eyes filled with anger and disdain, the heavy glare centered onto his older brother, whose face was impassive as ever.

"You think our family is disgraced by this?" He was questioning, knowing damn well that was the train of thought the full-blooded inukai was having. "How about that she had no legitimate father? Or better yet, I have no idea who he is? I have not one inkling of which demon it was."

There it was. Finally a reaction; the slight furrow of brows as Inuyasha spoke the last few words.

"There were so many of them. I lost count after a while." The near manic smirk that Inuyasha sent his way had Sesshomaru about ready to sneer. Did the hanyou think that this was a joke? That he defiled himself, let male youkai use him like a common whore, did he find it amusing? He had dragged his family's honor through the mud and he was smiling?

"Of course, what's a hanyou to do when his heat is so strong and he's all alone? No doting big brother to protect him. It's not like I'm welcome in _our_ father's home." The frown never left Sesshomaru's face.

"Do not dare to hold me responsible for your disgraceful, promiscuous behavior." Sesshomaru warned and Inuyasha snorted. "Would you prefer that I allowed your dishonorable behavior in our father's palace? Had you been allowed entrance to my father's land, you would not have avoided disgracing yourself."

"And had you not been a self-righteous prick, had you been the brother I needed, maybe I would have been raped by one demon instead of band of them!"

Silence followed after the echoes of Inuyasha's outburst died away, and Sesshomaru watched as Inuyasha began to cry. The sobbing followed as the hanyou seemed to be reliving a horrible dream and Inuyasha clung to his newborn pup for comfort.

"You were never there." He sobbed, golden, accusatory eyes looking up at Sesshomaru. "You were never there! And when you were, it was to hurt me! To put me down and let me know that no one cared. Where were you when I was a pup, scared and alone? Where were you when Kikyo hurt me? Where were you when those monsters raped me? Forced me to my knees, held me down and spread my legs. I actually screamed for you. All my life you never helped me, but I wanted you to. I needed you and you always failed me."

He sniffled heavily, wiping at his eyes and taking a deep breath, Sesshomaru frozen in front of him and his face a placid, unemotional mask again.

"But it's my own fault, isn't it. I'm the one who was born an undeserving hanyou. A blight on the proud inu-youkai lineage. I deserved it didn't I?"

He said nothing. He merely stared back at the emotional mess of a hanyou, who seemed frailer than usual. Whose usual brazen spirit seemed diminished. He had stopped fighting. Inuyasha was always fighting, and it was odd to see him this way now. He could do nothing but watch him, uncertain of what step to take or what words to speak.

"Why did you come here?" Came the question and he found his original answer was not easy to admit to. So he remained quiet, but that was not acceptable to the hanyou, who growled back at him in anger. "Get out."

He didn't move and Inuyasha barked out the same two words again, "Get out!"

It was louder and more pain-riddled. The years of suffering and hurt, of turmoil, were attached to those words and Sesshomaru was not sure if he was actually reacting to those emotions.

"I don't want you here anymore." Inuyasha murmured, looking away from him and focusing on the pup in his arms. "Leave me alone. I can go on without you. We don't need you. . . we'll survive. Just get out and never come back."

The softer spoken words hit harder and he was surprised that he quietly turned away and actually began leaving the cave. He knew Inuyasha watched him as he left and he didn't turn back. Not because he didn't want to look at the hanyou anymore, but because he couldn't bear to see the pain in those eyes anymore. The scent of blood was overpowering and the feeling of despair had him exiting quickly.

He came to a stop outside and finally looked back, seeing nothing but the darkness inside of the cave's mouth. What had happened so quickly that he was actually second guessing himself? He had to return to his estate. He had come and found the answer to his question. He was done here. Inuyasha was no longer his responsibility. He would cut his ties and go on.

Inside the cave, Inuyasha sat crying, his arms rocking his child who was asleep, unaware of what was going on around her. This was the end of it all, or at least the beginning of the end. Inuyasha could feel it. Sesshomaru had officially abandoned him, though he had sent the demon on his way, and the hanyou was now on his own. Left to raise a bastard child and brave the world with her as his only family.

He groaned in pain as he felt another clot pass out from his body and he shuddered at what it meant. He needed to heal. His daughter was dependent on his getting better . . . her survival was connected to his.

xoxoxoxox

Sesshomaru had been sitting quietly on a large flat stone, keeping watch over the surrounding forest outside of the cave that his younger brother was momentarily residing in. He had meant to leave days ago, to return to the West and put the scourge of his bloodline out of his mind. But he had found himself sitting here. It had been almost a week, and he had left only to scout the immediate area. He had not slept, he barely ate and he did not step foot into the cave again. He was at odds with himself. He hated the hanyou, that he knew, but there was something that would not let him leave the young hanyou to harm.

Perhaps it had been Inuyasha's confession that had plagued him with this disease of heavy guilt. Knowing that all Inuyasha had ever wanted from him was the company and companionship that came from having an older brother. He had been so obsessed with cleansing his family name of the hanyou's stain, that he had not allowed himself to accept the heavy burden that he was responsible for this small creature. This creature who had spent a lifetime eager for love and affection, and had received pain and fleeting moments of his desire. This little one that now was a father, which in turn made Sesshomaru an uncle, and was still yearning for the comforting knowledge that he was not alone in the world. He had read the determination in Inuyasha's spirit to be sure that he did not let his daughter live a moment of her life as lonely as Inuyasha's had been.

His eyes shifted from the trees, slowly turning at the sound of slowly shuffling feet. He wasn't sure if he should have stood as the young hanyou approached him but figured he would remain seated. It was the first he had seen Inuyasha emerge from his shelter and he did not want to intimidate the young hanyou back into hiding with his overbearing stature.

He took in the paler than usual skin, the deep circles under dulling eyes and the silent, but heavy panting as Inuyasha stopped before him. The smell of blood, decay and infection was overwhelming and he could not explain the sudden heavy stone that had dropped into the pit of his stomach. The feeling of dread washed over him as his sharp amber eyes looked straight into his brother's, patiently waiting for Inuyasha to speak.

But he was silent. He stood watching Sesshomaru, on trembling legs and his infant clutched desperately in his arms. And Sesshomaru would have spoken, but he knew not what to say, so he remained silent. Finally after what felt like an eternity, Inuyasha exhaled a deep breath, the sound shuddering as if he was holding back tears. It caused Sesshomaru to frown and his eyes followed Inuyasha as the younger sibling looked down to the infant pup in his arms.

"I know that you haven't always been there for me." Inuyasha slowly started, his eyes looking back up at a brother who had played guardian to him the last few days and nights. "And I know that I'm barely worth the dirt under your shoes."

Sesshomaru winced at that, his mouth opening to object but Inuyasha shook his head and it silenced him, causing him to wait for the half-breed to continue.

"I swore to her that she would never suffer as I did." He stated, his face frowning in determination. "I plan to keep my word no matter what, but I need your help to do it."

Sesshomaru stiffened as Inuyasha sat beside him, his arms stretching out and offering the baby girl to him hesitantly. He froze, looking to Inuyasha for an explanation, and his chest tightening at the sight of tears beginning to stream down his brother's face.

"Promise me, you'll never abandon her. You're all she has now."

"Inuyasha-"

"Promise me!" Inuyasha sternly said through clenched teeth before he was calming again. "With you she'll be safe and she'll be provided for. I may not have had you there for me, but you can make it up to me by taking my daughter."

Sesshomaru looked away, not wanting the burden of such a responsibility and suddenly sick at the realization as to why Inuyasha was offering her to him. Reality hit him hard and shattered his building denial as Inuyasha softly uttered his next words.

"I won't live past the night." He announced, Sesshomaru's head snapping back to look at his brother with wide, disbelieving eyes. "It will be a new moon. I'm barely staying alive, but as a human, my wounds will kill me."

"You are hanyou, you will heal."

"That's just it!" Inuyasha snapped, dull eyes burning with a dim light of anger. "I could have survived this as a full-blooded demon, but as a hanyou my chances of conceiving were slim, but I beat the odds. There's a price to pay for it. My demon blood is too weak to fight the infection, too weak to heal the wounds after having carried her for nine months. And as a human, I'll bleed out in minutes. So, please, I need you to be there for me just this once! I need you to be there for _her_."

He hadn't wanted to and he had told himself that he would refuse, but he found himself looking down at a sleeping baby, nestled in his arms that had never held anything so fragile before. She was so small, so vulnerable and now her only parent was going to die after the sun set and she would have no one else.

"She'll only have me." He was wording out loud, shocked that he had even spoken it.

He looked up to Inuyasha, whose frail form sagged with relief and weariness, ready to faint away and wait patiently for his end to come.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru." He was whispering out, his voice already too weak to speak at full volume. Dusk was fast approaching and the effects were immediate it would seem.

He watched Inuyasha stand and his brother smiled sadly down at the baby in his arms.

"I haven't named her yet." He said eyes looking up to Sesshomaru's face. "I know you'll give her one that fits. Goodbye, Sesshomaru."

And then he was leaving. Sesshomaru watched as he barely made it back to the cave, disappearing into the yawning black mouth and leaving behind the Daiyoukai with an infant that he had no idea what to do with or where to start. The baby fussed, and Sesshomaru stared down as small eyes opened, golden eyes staring up without focus as the baby yawned.

This child was now his to watch over, his to make sure that she never lived a life of loneliness and as little sadness as possible. Days ago, had he been given the task, he would have discarded the child without care, and now. He lifted the child to nuzzle her gently, a deep sigh releasing as he realized that this child was all he had left as well. His younger brother, that he had abandoned and left to die, that he had even tried to kill, had gone off to die on his own. He looked behind him to the cave and knew what he had to do.

xoxoxox

Inuyasha had propped himself up into a sitting position, eyes closed as he breathed heavily and waited to feel the sun set. It was fitting that he would die here, cold, scared and alone, as he had often been throughout his childhood. It would end soon, was the only comforting thought he had and he smiled a sad, bitter smile as he felt the change approaching. It would stop hurting soon, he reminded himself.

He was tensing, eyes slowly fluttering open, at the feel of an arm wrapping about him and shifting him so that he was cradled against a side of strong, yet pliant muscle. He looked up at Sesshomaru, whose eyes never stared down at him and he gave a quiet laugh, before he was closing his eyes again, letting his head fall into the crook off his brother's neck and shoulders.

"Sessh-"

"You need not speak." Sesshomaru said quietly, his voice strained. "I will stay here. I will not leave you."

Inuyasha smiled, despite his quiet sobbing and soon he was morphing. His hair darkened, his claws retracted and his body shuddered as his human form settled with the fall of night. His heavy breathing was soon gasping pants, and he felt Sesshomaru's grip on him tighten at the new fresh scent of blood, compliments of the barely healed wounds rupturing with no demon magic to attempt mending them or assisting the blood to clot.

They sat that way, Inuyasha's strained gasping breaths the only sound in the cave until suddenly, with a shuddering gasp, it all went silent. Sesshomaru dared not look down, but the rapidly cooling flesh pressed against him was all he needed to know.

The feeling of moisture dropping and soaking into his clothes shocked him, and realized it was coming from him. He ignored it, slowly looking down at the pallid face of his younger brother, now dead by his side. The soft howl slipped out but he stopped it short, and his pressed his cheek to the top of the human's head, hand lifting to stroke the ebony locks absently. It wasn't long after that the baby started crying, calling out for her birthing parent that could not answer her call.

Sesshomaru took a moment to collect himself before he was gently resting Inuyasha to a lying position and then cradling his crying niece in his arms. He would have to find her a wet nurse. He stared down at the crying child for a while longer before he was looking back down at the still body of his younger brother.

He would come back and properly bury him.

When he exited the cave, he found a boulder large enough to block the entrance and keep out scavengers. Then he was focused on his crying niece again, gently lifting her closer so the he could nuzzle the small cheek reddened from crying. She instantly quieted, small hiccups slowing at the contact.

"All the wrongs I have done to Inuyasha, I swear to never let befall you." He whispered to her, looking down into innocent eyes. "You will be my Chigiri."

The child yawned and Sesshomaru swaddled her some more before heading off for the nearest human village. He was sure that he could find a woman that was nursing and pay her to feed the child.

While the child nursed, he would return and gather Inuyasha's body. Then in the morning he would take the child and Inuyasha back home with him, to the West, where they belonged. There he would lay Inuyasha to rest and raise the last of their bloodline.

End

Dark, sad, I know. But it popped in my head one day and I forgot about it and now I finished it. I hope you liked it. Reviews are always welcome.

Chigiri = Promise


End file.
